Bengaluru: It was confusion and chaos on Monday at the government-run K.C. General Hospital, which is one of the hospitals chosen in the city to roll out the Arogya Karnataka Scheme and to issue unique ID 'ArKID'.
In all, 174 cards were issued on the first day of the card issuing process at the hospital. The people were miffed as the queues were long and many could not make it to the enrolment counter before it closed at 4 pm. “I am standing in the queue for one hour now, but I think I won't make it to the counter till 4 pm. My husband stood for me for a while and now I am standing in the queue as I have to submit the form in person,” said five-month pregnant Lakshmi.
As no special queues were organised for pregnant women and senior citizens, all jostled in the same line. A 70-year-old woman was braving the queue for her son, who is a hernia patient at KC General Hospital and cannot stand. “I have had a knee surgery and I am being treated for hernia at this hospital. I cannot stand in the queue. Since getting the ID is important, my mother is standing for me,” said Somashekar from Ramanagara. He said he came to the enrolment centre on the advice of his doctors.
As it was mandatory for patients to submit the forms in person, many senior citizens and patients had no choice but to request their family members to stand. Though many patients had carried the required documents, they were turned back after waiting for hours for their turn. Fifty-five-year-old Nethravathi had to go back as the system failed to recognise her biometrics. Since she also had not carried her mobile phone, she was asked to come back again with the OTP, which is generated by the system and sent to her mobile phone linked to Aadhaar.
Also, family members whose names were not mentioned in the BPL card could not get their IDs. “I was told that my brother's name is not mentioned in the BPL card and he could not be given a card,” complained an angry BPL card holder, who had come to the hospital to get the card for his family members.
A staff member at the enrolment counter said, “If the names are not mentioned in the BPL card, they can produce Aadhaar cards. But they will not be able to avail the benefits that a BPL patient gets.” Despite, these teething problems and long queues, people were enthusiastic about the benefits that come with the card.
